Articles/News with bus fees tag

Franklin Township Schools’ Flora Reichanadter will question a court of appeals decision that public school buses are a constitutional right, asking how bus fees could be illegal if the state legislature reacted to them by banning them and outlining formal procedures for school districts to cut transportation.

The Indiana Court of Appeals had ruled that Franklin Township Community School Corp. violated the state constitution when it arranged for an outside company to transport students for a fee. The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case.

After voters declined referendums to raise property taxes to increase revenues for schools, Franklin Township in Indianapolis tried discontinuing their school bus service and contracting with a private firm to transport students, charging parents a fee for the service. The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the township violated the state constitution.

The one-time funding allocation from the Peace River Regional District in British Columbia will go toward the cost of transporting students in rural areas during the 2014-15 school year. The funding eliminates the need for those rural families to pay a transportation fee.

The Indiana Court of Appeals decides that transportation is part of the public education system and that Franklin Township Community School Corp. violated the state constitution when it ended bus service and arranged for an outside company to transport students for a fee. The court points to a state mandate for schools to bus homeless, foster-care, special-needs and some private-school students.

In March, Etiwanda School District launched a "shared cost model" pilot transportation program for students who live at least 3 miles from school. District officials say that the program "did not generate the interest nor the revenue that was expected," and the board decides to discontinue it after the last day of school.

Hoover City Schools' plan to charge fees for student transportation is now being targeted for the 2015-16 school year instead of 2014-15. The plan outlines a fee structure that ranges from $0.43 to $2.26 per day, depending on how many student riders a family has and whether they qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Hoover (Ala.) City Schools' board votes to implement school bus ridership fees for the 2014-15 school year, pending approval by the U.S. District Court. In a memorandum proposing the fees, Superintendent Andy Craig says a fee-based system would help the district “address the financial challenges we are facing.”

The service for regular-education students at Hoover City Schools was set to end with the 2014-15 school year, but Superintendent Andy Craig and school officials are now exploring ways to continue offering the service with the district’s own bus fleet and drivers and to charge students a fee to ride the bus. Craig says that the ability for the district to both receive state allocation for transportation and collect fees from bus riders was the primary factor in this latest decision.

Lake County (Fla.) Schools students who lost courtesy bus service because they live within 2 miles of their schools will now be able to pay a $1 or $2 fee to ride the bus. Additionally, the district will restore free bus service for students within the 2-mile zones who have dangerous walking routes that include crossing roadways with high speeds or multiple lanes.

The fee will be higher starting with the upcoming school year. The South Sioux City (Neb.) district is looking for a way to balance its transportation budget; it was only reimbursed by the state for half of the nearly $570,000 that was spent on busing last school year.

At least five fee-based bus routes will be run throughout Sioux Falls School District next year for specialized elementary and middle school students. Fees will range from $50 to $150 per semester, based on families' lunch payment qualifications.

Regular-education students who live more than two miles from their home campus will be eligible for the service under a “blended transportation model” that the Keller (Texas) Independent School District’s board of trustees approves. The model will be implemented on Jan. 23, and students within the two-mile range will continue to have the option to purchase bus service for $75 per semester.

A petition to set aside $316,250 in Lexington, Mass., town funds to reduce the fee from $550 to $300 per student is approved at a meeting in April. As of this month, ridership at Lexington Public Schools is reportedly up to 37% from 33% last year.

Versatrans Pay to Ride from Tyler Technologies Inc. provides tools to handle billing, invoicing and payment processing, all through a web-based interface for school districts and the families of their students. Multiple payment options are available, and enrollment plans are customizable.

Temecula Valley Unified School District raises the cost of its annual bus passes from $520 to $550 per student. According to a district official, the change was made because the state severely underfunds Temecula's transportation due to a technicality of the stipulations under which the district was incorporated.

Under the proposal before the Temecula Valley Unified School District’s board, annual round-trip bus passes would rise from $520 to $550, and one-way passes would increase from $260 to $275. Officials say this could bring in an additional $25,000 for the district, and they are also recommending a move to streamline bus routes, which would save about $100,000.

Kamloops-Thompson School District No. 73 in Kamloops, British Columbia, is considering charging the fee to address a $300,000 to $500,000 budget shortfall. The suggestion leads trustees to call for outreach to area members of the legislative assembly to push for a review of the province’s formula that is used to determine busing needs, which they say is hurting their constituents.

The Illinois State Board of Education is expected to draft a bill that would eliminate the requirement for public school districts to transport students and base state-to-district reimbursements on an average per-student or per-mile rate. Districts could charge parents a fee to make up the difference between the state reimbursement and the actual cost of transporting students.

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